The second hearing session of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee regarding a petition calling for a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol was held on Friday with only six witnesses in attendance. 

Eighteen out of the 24 people adopted as witnesses were absent in Friday’s session, including First Lady Kim Keon-hee and her mother. 

At the session, rival camps clashed over allegations that the first lady accepted a luxury bag as a gift from Korean-American pastor Choi Jae-young in 2022. 

The ruling People Power Party(PPP) claimed that Choi, who appeared in the hearing as a witness, colluded with news channel “Voice of Seoul” and had illegally recorded him giving the bag to Kim with a hidden camera, calling the pastor a criminal. 

The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) said the luxury bag incident is a case of violation of the Anti-graft Act, stressing that it is appropriate for the prosecution to look into the case. 

The party said the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission should have requested the prosecution to probe the case and seek penalties against the first lady and not the pastor.